'No one needs a sports car,” observes Wayne Darley, Jaguar’s global brand director, “so we have to find ways to convince people that they can buy one. We call it 'justification economics’.”

Sounds like a load of man maths to me, but there’s no getting away from the fact that it takes a fair bit of kidology to buy your first high-performance car, whether it’s a hot hatchback or a full-on supercar. Optimism? Certainly. But with interest rates and investment returns at all-time lows, why have it in the bank when you could be having fun?

Car makers wryly acknowledge this sentiment has helped pep up the UK sports and performance market in the past few years and seems likely to be even more of a factor with the Chancellor’s pension changes in this month’s Budget. Never mind a Lamborghini, watch out kids, the parents are splurging your inheritance and their pensions on a new Jaguar F-type. Seriously, stranger things have happened.

But as a dog isn’t just for Christmas, so sports cars aren’t just for pensioners. Tetsuya Tada, Toyota’s brilliant chief engineer on the GT86 sports coupé, which is in our top 10, said he was looking forward to this year as the terrific handling two-plus-two will start to reach its second owners and they are going to be a lot younger than the first wave.

The GT86 was developed in conjunction with Subaru (its version is called the BRZ) and Tadasan is currently working on another collaboration project with BMW on a replacement for the ill-starred Z4. Rumours abound that it’s been a bit of a Hill 60 for this likeable Japanese, but we’re expecting a bit of firm news later this year.

Another car we’re unlikely to see in 2014 is the charming VW mid-engined Concept BlueSport sports car first seen at the 2009 Frankfurt motor show. The difficulty in making a viable business plan for this two-seater, which would have also carried Audi and Porsche badges, means it’s likely to go the way of Fiat’s Abarth sports car, deep-sixed when owner Fiat fell off the cliff of a European recession.

While it’s been a good year for some, others are still struggling in the UK performance market. Aston Martin, with so much uncertainty hanging over its continued independence, is having a torrid time, similarly Alfa Romeo, which must be hoping for a turnaround in its fortunes in 2014 starting with the brilliant little 4C.

So what are we looking forward to this year, apart from the aforementioned Alfa? In the hot-hatch arena there’s a bit of a Nürburgring battle going on between Seat and Honda. Honda was about to release a press statement about being the fastest hot hatch around the infamous German track, when Seat ate their lunch just before the Geneva motor show. In the hands of the touring car driver Jordi Gene, a Seat Leon Cupra 280 had stolen the 8min 8sec hot-hatch record from Renault’s Megane Trophy with a time of 7min 58.4sec. Since no one actually agrees common test conditions for a hot Nürburgring lap, this argument is fairly academic, but Twitter and Facebook users went a bit bonkers on the subject before a dancing cat recaptured their attention.

These two hot-hatch bruisers will be joined this year by Renault’s swansong Megane RS, Alfa’s Giulietta Quadrifoglio Verde, Nissan’s Juke Nismo RS and VW’s Golf R.

At the extreme far end of the picture, we’re currently still trying to get anywhere near a McLaren P1, a Porsche 918 or a Ferrari LaFerrari, although Ferrari’s California gets a big revamp this year with a new Maserati-based twin-turbo V8 and much improved economy, while McLaren has put a P1 nose on its 12C and called it the 650S.

Then there’s the car everyone wants to get their hands on (at least according to the Lib Dem Pensions Minister Steve Webb), the new Lamborghini Hurácan, replacement for the Gallardo. There’s also the possibility we’ll see Honda’s new NSX, although don’t bet on it putting off this long awaited replacement yet again.

Perhaps the most intriguing supercar this year will be BMW’s hybrid i8. It is based on the 2009 Efficient Dynamics concept, and the clamour to build it forced BMW into action. Affordable, if a whisker under £100,000 can be described as such, quick and rated (albeit in the EU’s unrealistic drive cycle) at 113mpg and 59g/km, this is truly innovative.

Back at the performance car coal face, we’re looking at the new BMW M3 this year, which is good, but also the well-received M235i, with handling and looks that are likely to make it a strong seller. And joining Peugeot’s brilliant RCZ-R in the small coupé market will be the Mark III Audi TT. First seen as a concept in 1995 and launched in 1998, this svelte coupé has been a top seller all its life. Even in its last year of sales it still tops the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders Sports and Coupés table ahead of the Mercedes-Benz SLK, VW Scirocco and Mazda MX-5 with 2013 sales of 6,870.

Here's our top 10 sports performance and hatches, based on the SMMT’s figures, but with our own additions. You can vote at the bottom of the page.